Seminar

At the crossroads of cell cycle regulation, chromatin dynamics and genome integrity

Jone Mitxelena

The genome is constantly exposed to many sources of harmful agents, both endogenous and exogenous, which threat the integrity of the genetic material and jeopardize cell survival. Challenges to genome integrity are at the root of different types of pathologies, including cancer. In fact, the accumulation of high loads of DNA damage is a feature present in most cancers and is the main source of genomic rearrangements that underlies tumor heterogeneity. A growing body of evidence suggests that the high rate of genomic instability presented by cancer cells may be the result of the loss of coordination between distinct cell cycle events, including DNA replication and repair, transcription and mitosis. We are interested in defining how these cellular processes take place in the context of chromatin and how the epigenetic landscape and chromatin dynamics orchestrate these fundamental DNA transacting processes. In this talk, I aim to discuss our findings on the mechanisms employed by mammalian cells to coordinate chromatin-associated functions that govern cell cycle progression, gene expression, genome stability and cell fate, and how these mechanisms contribute to tumorigenesis.